Second chances or Rose Returns
by MaryAllen92
Summary: Rose married the doctor duplicate only to find out that she couldn't age due to Bad Wolf. What happens when he dies and she is left alone again? Will she be able to find the Doctor again? Will they get a second chance at last? Title has been altered.
1. Chapter 1

Rose sat down at the edge of the bed, reaching her hand out to her husband. She brushed his grey hair back, funny how even at 87 years old he still had great hair. His eyes fluttered open and he whispered her name.

"Yes, John? Is there anything I can get for you?" She asked, knowing that she would do anything except for the thing that he would ask for.

"Rose, you know what I want. I want you to go find him. I want you to leave me to die…" He trailed off, knowing from 55 years of marriage she wasn't going to start obeying him now. He gazed lovingly at his wife, wishing not for the first time that she had grown old with him like they had planned. He knew that people looking on assumed she was his granddaughter, and would never believe the truth. The truth being: she was his 78 year old wife that didn't look a day over 19, thanks to Bad Wolf. As the Doctor he had been grateful for Bad Wolf for giving him a second chance with Rose, but as John Smith, he hated Bad Wolf. The Doctor thought he had absorbed the entire vortex out of Rose, John got the privilege of dealing with the consequences of that mistake. He had loved every minute with Rose, but as he lay confined to his bed in the prison of his old body he felt bitter that his counter-part hadn't paid attention enough to prevent this tragedy. He was grateful for his time with her; she had saved him from himself countless times, all he wanted was to save her from herself this one last time.

"Will you stop brooding?" She demanded, "Look at what happened last time you tried to send me away. I ended up changing my DNA irrevocably. Who knows what trouble I could get into if I let you send me away again?" She laughed and nervously tugged at the TARDIS keys hanging from her necklace. She knew he wanted her to leave, wanted to save her from having to see him die. Just like she knew she never could, never would be able to do that. This time she couldn't save him, and although it killed her inside, she wouldn't leave until the last breath left his body.

"Rose. My love, there is only a short window of time; I can't guarantee that I will expire before your chance to find the Doctor does." He secretly hated the idea of her with anyone other than him, but he knew it was ridiculous to be jealous of himself.

"I don't want to hear it. We have discussed this countless times, the Doctor can is the man I had loved…You are my husband, the man I vowed to love until death do us part…and then some." She reminded him, and even though he felt crazy for thinking it, he felt better every time she said those words. Over the 55 years they had been together, every time she said something along those lines, he felt a weight lifted off his chest.

"Promise me this then, promise that you will leave as soon as I die. Don't mourn me; don't cry for me, until you find the Doctor. Don't even stay to bury my body, let your nephew do that. I already talked to him, he agrees that you should find the Doctor sooner rather than later. Please Rose, promise me." He had set everything up, he knew that time was getting scarce, and he hated to leave anything to chance.

"John, please." She started, but seeming to realize that there would be no arguing with him she said, "I promise." She started to cry then and he wanted nothing more than to kiss away her tears, but all he could do was squeeze her hand.

LATER THAT NIGHT

The night nurse entered the room as silently as possible, not wanting to cause any disturbances until absolutely necessary. The Smiths had been kind to her, not to mention they were related to the Tyler family, as in The Tyler Wing of the hospital Tylers, and she didn't want to needlessly disturb them. She looked at Mrs. Smith curled up in the chair sleeping peacefully. She shook her head, the girl looked even younger in her sleep, and it was hard to imagine what had brought her to marry the significantly older man in the bed. She walked over to the bedside and checked Mr. Smith's pulse…and felt nothing. She checked his other wrist with the same results. Sighing she went back to the light switch so she could confirm what her mind was telling her. She hesitated with her hand over the switch, glancing at Mrs. Smith sorrowfully, wishing that she didn't have to be the one to bear this news.

Flip.

FIVE HOURS LATER

Rose had left as soon as she could, she had gone to her TARDIS, had aimed herself into the cracks of time and space and had successfully managed to reach the universe she had come from, the one with the Doctor. She had only been back for ten minutes, and she felt restless. The promise she made making it hard for her to breathe. She set her TARDIS in orbit near the Earth, but instead of landing she sent out the mauve distress signal. She hadn't the foggiest idea where the Doctor was, or even if he would still have the same face as he had the last time she had seen him; but she knew he never could resist a distress signal. Rose smiled, reminiscing about their first mauve distress signal, but as quickly as it had come the smile slid off her face as she spotted John's jacket lain carelessly over a chair. It had been months since he had had the stroke, and she hadn't been in here since then.

Rose gingerly grazed her fingers across the khaki material, then swiftly brought the jacket up to face, stifling a sob. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, taking in his scent. She hadn't slept in an actual bed in days, but she wasn't emotionally strong enough to go to the room they had shared alone, and she didn't have the will or energy to find a new room. Too tired to think on it any longer, she wrapped the jacket around her, settled into the chair, and closed her eyes against the sorrow that filled her.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

The Doctor had been brooding in the dark for hours now, and his TARDIS was humming at him angrily. There were planets in need of saving, adventures waiting to happen, the TARDIS hated lulls. She could feel his sorrow, and fighting evil and sure death was the only way she knew to help her Thief. After hours of the Doctor ignoring his friends and even her messages, she decided it was time to take control. Already on auto-control, it wasn't difficult to manipulate the course a bit, moving them closer to the mauve signal in the distance.

SOME TIME LATER

The Doctor jolted awake-not that he had actually been sleeping- to the blaring alarm of his TARDIS. "What? What? WHAT is going on?" He yelled at his ship. He checked the screen, mauve…distress signal…he sighed. "I told you. No more. Let the universe save itself!" he shouted, but it was obvious that his ship wasn't going to be quite until he gave in. "Fine! You win! Just land already and I will see what I can do." But the words, 'CANNOT LAND' showed up in reply. "What do you mean 'cannot land'? You can always land! What is going on here?" He stomped to the door, swung it open and looked out into the open space before him.

"There's nothing-"He started to shout to the TARDIS when he saw it, a TARDIS just like his except red.

ROSE

Beep. Beep. Beep. It was a soft noise, but Rose recognized it as the 'ship approaching' warning. Her eyes snapped open and she checked the screen. Sure enough the video showed the Doctor's TARDIS coming up to hers. She smoothed out her hair and straightened her jacket and headed to the door.

********** a/n please review and let me know if I should post chapter two. :) 


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n: This story is based on the theory that Donna gave Ten2 and Rose a piece of coral to grow a TARDIS, in case any one is wondering. Thanks for the reviews!**

Chapter 2

"Rose? Is that you? No…no that can't be possible…" The Doctor gawked at the girl before him. He had often dreamed of seeing her again. All different scenarios had raced through his mind, from tearing apart the universe to steal her away from his meta-crisis to finding seven year old Rose to be her tutor. But never had he considered the possibility that she would find him. He rubbed his hand across his eyes, worried that this was all a dream, when suddenly, she smiled and he knew it was her, because no one else has a Rose smile.

"Doctor? That is you isn't it? I knew you couldn't resist the mauve…" She smiled again, that special Rose smile.

"But… how is this possible? You are...not supposed to be here…how can you be here?" He stumbled out the question; his brain was denying what his eyes were seeing. He dragged a hand through his longish hair and blinked at her blankly. She raised her eyebrows at him and gestured at the space between them. "Oh! Right, here give me your hand we can discuss this inside…much safer…here."

She stared at his hand for a moment. He was so different; maybe this wasn't a good idea. She thought back on the first time she had grabbed his hand. He had a different face then too, she closed her eyes, picturing him, and she realized that she would always trust him no matter what he looked like.

They stumbled a bit as they got in the Doctor's TARDIS, accidentally coming too close, then awkwardly making more than enough room between them. There was that uncomfortable feeling one gets on a blind date, as well as that warm feeling that you get when you are reunited with a loved one.

"You're still not ginger." Rose said eager to break the silence that had been settling in on them ominously.

"What? Oh right…yeah still not ginger, although hopefully not rude either," he laughed at himself self-consciously, "It has been a while... since the um… regeneration." He continued, feeling the need to explain himself, although what he was explaining he wasn't entirely sure.

Rose wondered how long it had been since he had last seen her, but was afraid to ask. He seemed nervous, as if he didn't trust what his eyes were telling him. Perhaps it would be best to explain how she managed to make her way back to this universe…

"I can't believe this worked, that I actually found you." She began, "John was the one who noticed the cracks, and I didn't really think I would be able to use them to get back to you though. I am still not sure how it worked actually, but you know how wibbly wobbly time can be." She smiled at him, but his return grin didn't quite reach his eyes. She found herself once again wondering how long it had been.

"John is…my meta-crisis?" he asked. When she nodded, he continued, "Is he…in your TARDIS?"

"No…he…didn't come." She said slowly. She wasn't sure she could say the words; that she would be able to admit to the truth. She thought about making up a story, something about a paradox maybe or a lover's fight. The Doctor just watched her, waiting for her to explain herself. She sighed, completely aware that she had yet to out wait a Time Lord, or even a part Time Lord, "He died, this morning actually." She stared hard at her shoes, determined not to look up into his eyes, determined not to cry in front of the Doctor-her Doctor.

"What happened?" The Doctor probed gently. He had noticed that Rose looked more fragile than last he had seen her, now he knew why. His poor Rose, left behind once again.

"We were in the TARDIS…its funny actually; he came close to death a couple of times. He had been shot twice, he was stabbed, and we were both sentenced to death countless times… Then after all that, we were just sitting in the TARDIS, on our way home, when he had a stroke. Six weeks later…today…he died in his sleep." Not able to hold it in any longer, she started sobbing. The Doctor closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. A million questions swirled in his mind, but he knew the pain of losing a loved one all too well, and he wouldn't bombard Rose with meaningless details. Rose let herself cry for just a moment more before she pulled away, and swiping at her tears she forced a smile.

"You probably have questions." She pointed out.

"They can wait."

"No, it's ok. John wouldn't want me to dwell on my loss. His policy was always to keep on the move, to never let life get you down." She said with a more genuine smile this time. The Doctor still looked worried, but she wasn't ready dwell on her loss. She prompted him, "Come on, I know you must be wondering why I don't look a day over 19…"

**BAD WOLF**

**_I create myself…_****Bad Wolf had changed her DNA, inhibiting her ability to age. She could still be injured, she even got sick once every blue moon, but she hasn't aged. She knew something was different, she could feel it in her bones, but she didn't know what it was. She still didn't remember what happened on Satellite 5; it was frustrating not being able to remember the moment her body had been changed forever. Her mom had noticed first, although she didn't realize the depth of the problem. **

**_"How is that you still look so young? Your 27! You look ten years younger, what are you using?"_**

**Rose avoided the subject with John, but it became inevitable that his curiosity could not be sustained. He drew blood, analyzed and studied her like she was a science project.**

**It was the worst year of her life. The year when he got his first grey hair and realized that she would never age. The year when people started asking if she was his daughter. The year when he got shot close to his one heart and almost died. The year they almost lost each other forever. **

**They talked about divorce. She didn't want to lose him that way...not to death. He felt as if she couldn't still love him now that he was an old man and she was still so young. They got in argument after argument. First little things, then the grand finale. She pushed him away, she said things she knew would hurt him, trying to force him out of her life now instead of later; it would only hurt more later. It worked; he left their flat in a rage, slamming the door behind him. She fell asleep on the couch with a mostly empty bottle of liquor. **

**She never asked him where he had gone because when she woke up the next morning she was in bed with his arms wrapped tightly around her. **

"We never talked about it again."

"I am sorry...if I had only known." The Doctor shook his head at how differently his life could have turned out if he had never given up Rose.

"Don't be. You didn't know and my life with John was worth the pains. Besides look at us now, we have been given a second chance to make up for the time we have lost." When the Doctor smiled at her, Rose continued, "that is if you want to...John had this 'fantastic' idea that I would find you and we would go on travelin' just as before. But I understand if you don't want to...it's been-how long has it been?"

"Centuries"

"Wow, centuries. Right, well, what I am trying to say is that you needn't feel sorry for me. I will be ok on my own. I have the TARDIS that you and Donna gave me, and I have friends I can look up..."she tapered off lamely. She didn't want to leave him, she never had, but she wouldn't force him to take her.

"Do you want to leave?" The Doctor asked, scared that she would say yes.

"I don't want to force you to keep me on. After all you are the one who choose to leave me at Bad Wolf Bay. I- I can't make you keep me just because John says that you never wanted to leave..."

The Doctor stared at her blankly for a moment, and then, "He never told you?"

"He told me that you didn't want to leave me behind, that you did it FOR me."

**FLASHBACK**

**"I said I was sorry," the meta-crisis said through gritted teeth.**

**"You didn't mean it," the Doctor pointed out calmly.**

**"That's because they are Daleks! They deserve to die!"**

**"You murdered a whole race. How does that make you any different than them?" **

**"Have you forgotten that they were going to kill EVERYONE?" The meta-crisis stared down the Doctor, but realizing he was never going to win this argument he sighed and said, "What are you planning to do with me then?"**

**"You will stay with Donna, keep her safe." The Doctor said quietly.**

**"You condemn me to a life without adventure then, which is no life at all! You know what will happen to her! She doesn't need me, she won't remember me!" When the Doctor just glared at him the meta-crisis continued, "What about Rose?"**

**"What about her?" The Doctor asked. **

**"Why can't you leave me with her?"**

**"Rose is staying with me." **

**"You are calling ****_me _****a monster? How can you separate her from her family permanently like that? What happens when you regenerate again? What about when she starts to grow old? What will you do when she can't keep up with you anymore?" Knowing from his own memories that the Doctor is worried about these very things, the meta-crisis softened his voice and said, "Leave me with her. I will never be changing my face on her; I can grow old with her. Don't you think she deserves that?"**

The Doctor closed his eyes against the memory, "He was right. I never wanted to leave you," he said, though he vowed to himself never to tell her how true it was, "I would be honored if you would stay with me. We are different people in some ways, but I think in the most important ways we are the same." He paused then said, "Would you like travel through space and time with me?"

"Yeah," Rose said simply with her special Rose smile. She gave him a quick hug, and then pulling away said, "I guess I should park my TARDIS." She opened the door, aimed her sonic screwdriver and watched as the red TARDIS faded away. Turning around she winked at him and said, "Learned that trick from you. Even sent it to the same spot..."

They stayed up for a while longer, talking about everything and nothing, but soon the Doctor couldn't help but notice how tired Rose was. He suggested she turn in, but when she headed to her room he stopped her, "Your room has moved."

"What?" Rose asked, flabbergasted.

"It's a long story. The TARDIS was a woman, we almost died, and in the process of saving us all, the rooms were destroyed. I recreated your room, but in a different part of the ship. Come with me," he said, trying to sound nonchalant, and then he led her to where her room was. She followed in silence, though her brain was teeming with questions. Why move her room? Why even remake it if he thought he would never see her again? Was there a room for each companion that was left behind? Then he showed her the room, and everything was exactly the same.

"Nothing has changed," she said incredulously, "I would never have known except..."

"Did I miss something?" He asked concernedly.

"No! It's just why did you move the room?"

"Oh." He looked away, then explained, "My companions I was telling you about...the Ponds, Amy in particular, she was fond of asking the hard questions...questions I wasn't sure I could answer."

"I understand." She did understand, she had his TARDIS key around her neck to prove it. She paused then turning her full attention to her bedside lamp, she asked, "You don't have to answer... But I have to ask...did you recreate all of them? Is there a room for each companion that was left behind?"

The Doctor cringed at her choice of words. He worries that if he should tell her the truth, if he should tell her that he would have room to honor each companion but he had never been in any of their rooms but hers. What would she think if he told her that ever since she had left his life he had spent his sleepless nights sitting in her bedroom chair?

"Yours is the only one." He said quietly, and then he left the room and closed the door behind him.

**a/n2: I left out the bit where the Doctor explains the Ponds because that is another story in itself. It is not because I don't love them. Each companion has a special story, this one is about Rose. **


	3. Chapter 3

A/n: sorry for taking So long to update and then giving a short a chapter but I have been sick and this was a difficult one to write. I hope you all like.

Rose cried for a while, then wiping away her tears, slept peacefully for the first time in weeks. When she woke, she felt refreshed, renewed, and reborn. She was ready to start a new life, a new adventure. As she made her way to the closet, she thought about the Doctor and how every time he regenerated, he had a new wardrobe. She laughed thinking of how his leather jacket had swamped the Doctor before this one, and she wondered bowtie and suspender look he had going now. She pulled her husband's old jacket tight around her. Rose knew from the little the Doctor had told her about the Ponds that he needed her to be Rose, not John Smith's widow. She held on to the jacket for a moment longer, and then sighing, she shrugged it off. She carefully hung it up and began examining her closet for the day's clothes before heading to the bathroom to get ready for whatever the day would hold.

The Doctor nervously straightened his bowtie, as the TARDIS lights brightened. The TARDIS was telling him that she was awake, but he wondered if he was dreaming. For the past twelve hours that she has been asleep in her room, he kept thinking that maybe it was all a dream. It made sense that it was a dream; his mind was trying to trick him into believing the impossible. He sighed and fiddled with his bowtie some more. If this was a dream, why was he so nervous? Why could he feel his hearts beating so hard he thought his chest would burst? He had about come to the conclusion that this was a most horrid dream when the dream in question walked in the consol room. He looked at Rose in her jeans and the fitted black jumper that hugged her curves…wait, when had he started noticing her curves? He dragged his eyes up to her face and saw that she was smirking at him like she knew what he had been thinking. He nervously started talking about some new setting on his sonic screwdriver.

Rose smiled to herself, not really listening to what he was saying. She thought of how different he was from when she had first met him. He used to be so closed off and abrasive, then he had been foxy and flirty, now he is flustered easily and his emotions are written all over his face. She tugged on her jumper and watched his eyes follow the movement. Well, maybe he wasn't totally different.

"So where shall we go first?" Rose interrupted his seemingly endless stream of babble.

"I thought it should be ladies choice," the Doctor said, gesturing towards her. But before she could respond, the TARDIS beeped at them. The laughed and Rose went to the screen while the Doctor went to the control panel.

"Tell me what the coordinates are!" The Doctor commanded enthusiastically. Rose told him, then asked where they were headed.

"I don't know actually…There isn't a planet, let me check outside." He peered out the door, and upon seeing nothing turned back to Rose. Whith a certain amount of dread he asked Rose what the screen said…_exactly._

"It says, 'I need a ride. XX.' And then the coordinates" Rose replied skeptically. She didn't understand the note at all… but the Doctor did.

"River," he muttered.

"What?"

"It is probably River…she is…uh Amy and Rory's daughter. This is sort of her modus operandi," he explained. He gulped nervously, and then suggested that Rose go fetch some tea. Rose gave him a suspicious look, but did as he said nonetheless. The Doctor looked out the door and sure enough- a ship came into view, an escape hatch was opened, and a beautifully dangerous River Song was flying through space towards him. Her vibrant green dress swirled around her as she reached out her arms to him. He pulled her in, and no sooner was she in his arms that she was kissing him.

Rose nearly dropped the cup of tea she was holding when she saw the Doctor was being attacked. Of course when she realized the attack was actually a kiss, her grip on the cup tightened in uncalled for jealousy.

"Hello Sweetie." River said as she pulled away finally. The Doctor searched the room for Rose and of course there she was staring him down, presumably not having missed a thing. River turned to see what to see what was making the Doctor act so nervous and saw a small blond girl glaring at her. _A new companion perhaps?_ River was well aware of what had just happened to her parents, she had planned this pick up to the tee. She had hoped he would be alone so that she would be able to comfort him properly, but she knew that finding him in company of a new companion was for the best. She smiled at the girl, but was not given a welcome in return. She sighed, another companion in love with her husband, "And who is this?"

"River, this is Rose. Rose, this is River." The Doctor said nervously. He had been worried that this was a dream earlier, now he was more concerned that this was a nightmare… Rose handed him his cup of tea roughly, intentionally spilling a bit of the hot liquid on his shirt. River's eyebrows shot up as she got a more clear view of the pink and yellow human named Rose.

"Not Rose Tyler?" River asked incredulously. She had of course known of the infamous Bad Wolf, but that girl was living in another universe!

"Tyler Smith actually," Rose replied. She smiled at River. She may not have appreciated the Attack Kiss, but she couldn't help but be pleased that at least she had recognized her. Whoever this River Song was, she likely had more claim to this Doctor than Rose did anymore. Rose recalled when she had first met Sarah Jane…at least River had known who she was. Rose determined to make this visit as peaceable as possible.

**An Excerpt from the Diary of River Song**

**_I met Rose Tyler today for the first time, but I do not think it will be the last. Part of me wishes that she had never come back…the part of me that says the Doctor is mine and mine alone. The part of me that knows we can't have much time left together, knows that Rose will help him when I am not there to. _**

**_I can't help but wonder how much time I have left with him. _**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rose had never been the recipient of the Doctor's kiss, unless you counted the time Cassandra was inhabiting her body, wish she didn't really count as she didn't get to gully appreciate the kiss. She had however, had a few opportunities to observe the Doctor kiss. His previous regeneration had been a very physically affectionate person, not to mention attractive. Even when she first met him, he wasn't above kissing complete strangers. Then there was her time with John, who was like the Doctor in every aspect. She thought on the kiss she had overseen between the Doctor and River Song. His eyes had been open the entire time, and his hands had been out stretched as if he was confused. Rose considered herself rather an expert on the Doctor and his kissing abilities, so didn't feel as if she was out of line when she said, "You kiss differently."

The Doctor shook his head in wonder. Here they were trapped in a prehistoric prison, and Rose was thinking about kissing?!

Some Time Earlier

"So we have set the TARDIS on random, should we check where we are or just run out and see?" The Doctor asked Rose. They had dropped off River and immediately took off on their first real adventure together since Rose had found him. He had missed traveling with her, but he was also a bit nervous.

"What kind of question is that?" Rose laughed at him and together they raced towards the door. They stepped out and looked at the world around them. The atmosphere was arid and the land was mostly rocks with only sparse trees. They appeared to have landed on a beach as there was a raging ocean behind them.

"So, Doctor, where are we? Do you know what planet we are on?" Rose asked excitedly.

"We are in prehistoric earth. I would say about 300 million years in the past." The Doctor told her. She was a bit disappointed to be on her home planet, but she had never been this far in the past and was looking forward to seeing some new things.

"Dinosaurs?" She asked eagerly.

"We are before dinosaurs. If I had to guess I would say that we will run into my old friends the homo reptilians. The Silurians they are called, rather peaceful sorts, you'll like them-"He began to say but was cut off quite suddenly by what can only be described as a prehistoric stun gun in the hand of a not too peaceful Silurian.

Rose checked for the Doctor's pulse, and then quickly pulled out her sonic screwdriver and disabled the stun guns. Realizing that the odds were against her, as the four Silurians charged against her, Rose struggled to drag the Doctor back into the TARDIS. Failing to do so, she switched to plan B.

"Wait!" Rose commanded. Surprised by her outburst, the Silurians did pause in their attack. "What do you want with us? The Doctor said you were a peaceful lot."

A female Silurian who appeared to be in command signaled to her companions to surround the ape, and then replied, "Is it true then that this is The Doctor?" When Rose nodded enthusiastically the other Silurians took the Doctor from her while the first one continued to approach. "You will make a beautiful slave," The lead Silurian said almost sweetly, "I may even keep you for myself." Then, before Rose could start panicking, the Silurian pulled out another stun gun from her boot and shot Rose.

"Welcome back to land of the living Doctor," said a harsh voice. The Doctor blinked up at the Silurian before him. She was glaring at him venomously and he wondered what he had done to anger her so. This far back in the past, the Silurians shouldn't be aware of all the horrible things that had happened to this proud race at his hands.

"How do you know who I am?" The Doctor asked. He was in a prison cell of sorts and it would appear that his sonic screwdriver had been seized from his possession.

"We have been expecting you. Your companion confirmed your identity," replied the Silurian. The Doctor looked around frantically. Where was Rose? How had he managed to lose her so soon after having her returned to his life?

"Where is Rose?" The Doctor demanded to know. The Silurian smiled at him menacingly and said, "She is a slave now. But I wouldn't be worried about her if I was you…Your own fate shall be infinitely worse."

As Rose came to consciousness she realized that she couldn't move her arms. Keeping her eyes closed she tried to make sense of her situation as much as possible without giving herself away.

"It is no use pretending. My monitors indicate that you are awake." She heard a leathery voice say. She opened her eyes to take in her surroundings and found she had been strapped into a wall. She looked up at the lizard man before her. He was wearing a white lab coat and despite his ghastly appearance, he looked friendly. She knew better than to trust a friendly face, though, especially when she was being restrained forcefully.

"Come now, Ape. I was told that you speak most fluently. What has you so silently? Surely you aren't afraid of me…I am on your side. My name is Tulok. I am the head scientist of my tribe. In fact I am one of the Triad. You will be safe in my custody."

"Am I to be your slave then? If that is what you mean by safe then, thanks but no thanks." Rose said sharply.

"So you are intelligent. Remarkable. After years of careful experiments, the most I could get from the Apes was primitive speech. Now, I have not one, but two fully intelligent Apes!" Tulok exclaimed happily.

"If you think the Doctor is an Ape you are very mistaken. And I will have you know that we are called Humans." Rose quipped. She had enough of one alien calling her an Ape; she didn't need that to start trending.

"No, of course not… I didn't include him in my count. Although, strictly speaking, the other female isn't an Ape either. I had thought that her strange anatomy had evolved over time, but after examining you, I have concluded that she is in fact an entirely different species. Although she has a strong resemblance to the Apes, but perhaps you know of 'humans' from your time with two hearts?"

Two hearts…is it possible? John had told her about his extrapolated daughter…but she had died. It was just a coincidence then, of course Rose didn't believe in coincidence. Rose asked Tulok what the girl's name was.

"I haven't the foggiest idea. I never thought to ask. I knew her as subject 247. I would have shown her to you, but she was bought just two days ago." Tulok explained.

"You _sold _her? The Doctor said you were a peaceable people…yet here I am strapped down, being experimented on, waiting to be sold? What kind of monsters are you?" Rose asked indignantly. Until recently, Tulok had never really considered the slavery of the Apes to be a problem, which was after all what they were bred for. However, upon recent revelations in the possibility of intelligence in the Apes he began to have some doubts.

"She wasn't mine to keep," Tulok protested. "At any rate it is better that she is someone's slave rather than someone's meal."

"You **_eat _**humans?" Rose asked more outraged than frightened.

"**_I _**personally do not share in that nasty habit. Eating of the Apes is something the rich and somewhat eccentric Silurians do. It was all I could do to convince subject 247's buyers that she was more valuable as a slave than as a meal." Tulok said defensively. Rose was about to start a tirade about the horrors of slavery, when another Lizard Lady stormed into the room.

"Tulok," The Lizard Lady hissed, "the prisoner is mine, release her to me."

"Ahtmanas what are you doing here?" Tulok said, sounding almost venomous compared to his naturally sanguine behavior. "I am not through with my tests."

"Our fearless leader," Ahtmanas started saying, the sarcasm dripping heavily from her voice, "has agreed to fulfill the Doctor's last request. I am no happier about this than you are. If it were my choice, I would kill the Ape and eat her myself, if only to hurt the Doctor more. But who am I but the military leader of the Triad?" She finished venomously. Rose had been indignant about Tulok's indifferent treatment of the Humans, but she saw now that she had more worrisome things to think of. What did the Lizard Lady mean by 'last request'?

"Best not let Azothoth hear you speak that way." Tulok warned. Their leader may be merciful, but he was also strict, and had no tolerance for rebellion. Tulok reluctantly released Rose to Ahtmanas, and she in turn took the Ape to the Doctor, but not without whispering some positively frightening threats.

After hugging the Doctor fiercely, Rose took a look at their surroundings. They were in a prison cell that was more for one person, rather than two. Three walls of concrete, bars and a deadbolt, not to mention the four prison guards would make it difficult to escape. But from past experience, Rose had no doubt that they would indeed escape, and before they faced or fought death, she had something she needed to do.

"What are you thinking of?" the Doctor asked Rose. She was staring at him thoughtfully.

"You kiss differently." Rose replied matter-of-factly.

"What?" The Doctor exclaimed. He could not believe they were having this conversation in a prison cell of all places. He couldn't believe they were having this conversation, period. He didn't have these kinds of conversations, especially not with Rose.

"You asked what I was thinking. I was thinking that you kiss differently."

"How would you even know?" The Doctor asked. He had kissed Rose twice before, but she couldn't possibly remember either times; although some traitorous part of him wanted her to.

"I have been very observant," She said, a smile growing on her face. She took a step closer, and the Doctor's hearts started beating outrageously fast. Before he could tell Rose that he thought he might be experiencing a heart attack, she took another step closer and he found he wasn't quite capable of speaking anymore. "What I want to know is if your kissing has gotten better or worse," Rose challenged him with a raised eyebrow. They were breathing the same air now, close enough to kiss, but Rose didn't make a move, she simply waited.

"I guess," the Doctor said slowly finding his voice, "there is one way to find out." And then he closed the distance between them and captured Rose's lips with his own. He wasn't thinking clearly, if he had been he would have stopped himself. Romantic entanglement with his companions only led to heartbreak. Yet with Rose, he never seemed able to help himself.

Rose, on the other hand, was still in power of her thinking abilities. The Doctor's kiss was indeed different. She had to guide his jaw with her hand, seeking a better angle to kiss this tall man. Once she had adjusted to kissing this man that was both different and the same as the man she fell in love with all those years ago, she found that she stopped making comparisons. Rose decided that she would just enjoy the kiss, then the Doctor's arms wrapped around her waist, pulled her closer, and Rose stopped thinking altogether.

If things had continued this way, there is no doubt that they would not have escaped. The Doctor would have tried to talk his way out of his imminent execution, but he wouldn't have succeeded. Ahtmanas would fulfill her threats and Rose likely would have been too emotionally stunned to avoid becoming the cruel Lizard Lady's next meal. Thankfully, while the Doctor and Rose had been too involved with each other to think of an escape, someone else was taking care of things.

The Doctor reluctantly pulled away, but he could no longer deny what his ears were telling him, there was a scuffle just outside their cell door. The Doctor stuck as much of his head that would fit through the bars and took in a truly unbelievable sight. The Doctor and Rose watched open mouthed as a young blond woman made short work of taking out the two remaining guards, two other ones already lying useless on the floor. Defeating the last guard with a swift high kick, the young woman took the keys off of the guard and started peering into one of the other cells.

"Doctor?" She called out. The Doctor stared at her incredulously, but upon hearing her voice he could no longer deny who this girl was.

"Jenny?" he called out, doubtful still of what he was seeing. The blond smiled and ran up to his cell.

"Hello Dad!"


	5. Chapter 5

The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand as they ran to follow Jenny, but his mind was running faster than his legs were. _How was this possible? How was she alive?_ His life had become so full of the impossible that he began to wonder if this was all a dream. His hand tightened around Rose's; if this was a dream, then he didn't want to wake up.

Jenny suddenly came to a halt in front of them…very suddenly. So suddenly, that the Doctor wasn't quite able to put the brakes on his running feet until he slammed into a wall. Or at least he thought it was a wall, he couldn't actually see it. Rose pulled up just short of running into the Doctor, and Jenny laughed as she started pressing what seemed to be an invisible key pad. They heard a beep, and then there was a space ship before them.

"That's the shuttle from Messaline!" The Doctor said accusingly to Jenny as he rubbed his sore nose.

"I borrowed it," Jenny replied, showing only the slightest bit of guilt, before running up the ramp and into the ship.

"You mean you stole it!" The Doctor shouted to her retreating figure. Rose looked at the Doctor with a smirk on her face, this was just too funny.

"She is definitely your daughter," Rose laughed and then followed Jenny into the space ship. The Doctor gaped after her, until he heard shouting coming in the distance. He followed them into the space shuttle just as Jenny started closing the ramp.

"Time to relocate," Jenny announced from the cockpit. "There is a rebel human camp about 100 yards away, the Silurians avoid the place like the plague, I think we will be safe there. Make yourselves comfortable, we will be there in just a moment," Jenny told them. The Doctor and Rose exchanged glances, still somewhat shocked at the sudden appearance of the Doctor's daughter.

"How is it that you are alive?" The Doctor blurted out.

"Not that he isn't glad to see you," Rose added, nudging him in the side. Jenny glanced at Rose, curious about whom she was. Rose smiled encouragingly at Jenny, and Jenny decided to trust her.

"I think it was The Source. It must have healed the gunshot wound. I didn't really stop to think about it, honestly. I was just happy to be alive, yeah?" Jenny answered. The doctor couldn't believe his eyes; it was almost painful to look at Jenny. He was glad that she was alive, but he kind of wished she wasn't right here in front of him.

"How did you get here?" Rose asked Jenny, curious how his dead daughter from the future managed to get all the way to prehistoric earth.

"Well that is a story in itself," Jenny replied, "The short of it is I found a Silurian tribe from my time who told me of all their experiences with you in the past. Then it was just a matter of obtaining a Vortex Manipulator and wiring it into my ship. Of course, it turned out that coming this far back in the past wore the thing out, so I am very glad that my plan worked; otherwise I would have been stuck here for a very long time." She said with a grin. Rose couldn't help but smile at how like the Doctor Jenny was, but she knew that the Doctor was getting more uncomfortable by the minute.

"We are here!" Jenny announced with a mischievous grin. Rose was almost startled by the similarities she saw between father and daughter.

"Where exactly is here?" The Doctor questioned suspiciously. He tightened his grip on Rose's hand without realizing it. He was worried though, no more than worried. What had Donna called it? "Dad Shock" He had been a dad before, but it had been a very long time ago. He felt overwhelmed with it all, like if he had any more surprises, his two hearts would give out and he would have to regenerate.

"Here is the rebel camp I was telling you about… I have been in the area for a while now and… well let's just say that I might have planted some new thoughts into this crowd."

"You started a rebellion! How long have you even been here?" The Doctor exclaimed. Jenny just laughed and headed out of the ship. Rose went to follow Jenny, but the Doctor pulled back on her hand. Rose looked at him with a questioning glance, waiting for him to offer up whatever he was going to say.

"How do we know that we can trust her?" He asked Rose. He didn't really think trust was a problem, but he was stalling. He was scared, and he never got scared.

"Doctor, she is your daughter. Of course we can trust her. What is the real problem?" Rose asked him, but he just stayed silent. He didn't know the words for what he was feeling. Rose took her free hand and placed it on his cheek. She looked into his green eyes that shined with unshed tears, and then she rested her forehead. Rose could understand what he was feeling and she knew words weren't what he needed. They stood like that for a minute before pulling away and the Doctor nodded at her. Rose smiled and together they followed Jenny into the unknown.

"There is **_always _**a choice!" rang out Jenny's voice. The Doctor and Rose shared a glance and then ran out of the ship to find out what the trouble was. The scene before then was utter chaos. The "rebel humans" almost did resemble apes in the way they were shouting and jumping around. The source of the problem seemed to be a bound and gagged Silurian soldier. The humans were alternately keeping their distance and running forward to throw kicks and insults. Jenny was trying to reason with what appeared to be the leader of the group.

"Enough!" The Doctor shouted with authority. The humans backed away fearfully from this upright man who was glaring at them fiercely. Rose rushed forward to the beaten down Silurian.

"I am going to take that off," Rose said with a gesture to gag around the Lizard Lady's mouth. The Silurian soldier just glared at Rose venomously. "I am so sorry this happened to you." Rose said gently as she untied the gag. The Silurian was fully intending to bite Rose, inject her with venom, and watch the ape writhe in pain, but Rose's words caught her off guard. The Lizard Lady hissed sharply and bared her teeth, but she didn't bite the human.

"You're the same one as before," Rose surmised, giving the Silurian a more respectful distance. "The one who took me to the Doctor… At-something, right?" The Silurian just glared silently as the Doctor pulled Rose further away. The Doctor was all for second chances and non-violence, but he couldn't help the withering glance he shot at the Silurian. His superior Time Lord ears had heard the whispered threats that she had made to his Rose, and he did **_not_** like what he had heard.

"What is going on here?" Rose demanded, "What did you do to her, that now she is too afraid to talk?"

"I don't think she is afraid," Jenny said as the Silurian hissed, "I think she is just very, very mad. This is Ahtmanas, military leady of the Triad. Grug here," Jenny gestured to the man she had been arguing with, "says that Ahtmanas came here to spy on them but they caught her. The humans want to kill her, but they were waiting for me. I guess they think I am their leader."

"I will not allow you to kill her." The Doctor said firmly.

"I wasn't planning on killing her," Jenny said indignantly. "I was just explaining to them that killing isn't the only option here, that there is always a choice."

"We kill!" shouted Grug angrily. He was a very strong looking man. Sturdy and swarthy, he wore only what appeared to be a loin cloth. When he turned towards the crowd of other humans, Rose and the Doctor saw what appeared to be old scars from a whip. Rose's heart went out to the man, who had obviously suffered at the hands of the Silurians, but she wouldn't condone murder.

"That's enough!" Rose shouted, and everyone quieted down. She may seem like a little pink and yellow human, but she had been alive a long time and she had a voice people listened to. She continued in a calming tone, "No one is going to be killed today. I know what pain and suffering you have gone through. I know you must want to put an end to it all. But murder is not the way to put a stop to the pain. If you kill her, you will just start a war that you cannot win. The Doctor, Jenny, and I are going to help you though. We will find a way to free you from the abuse you have suffered under the hands of the Silurians." The crowd made sounds of approval and Ahtmanas looked at Rose with what might just have been respect.


End file.
